The fundraiser portion of the event benefited Chuck "CJ" Julin, a longtime ski patroller and more recently the executive director of Team Summit, who is recovering nicely from a stroke he suffered last fall.

Ski patrol directors were out in force that evening, starting with the current director, Hagen Lyle. Others there were, from first to last, Kevin Williams, Andy Daly, Bill Murphy, Duffy Wilson, Chuck Tolton and Sam Parker. The only one missing was Kent Birdell, who was between Andy and Bill.

Another highlight was Jordan Schultz, granddaughter of early-on resort investor Paul Bailey, now 93 and recovering from recent surgery. Paul and Lew Stevens, with The Bailey Co., had a large chain of Arby's, one of which was in Copper Junction.

Jordan addressed the group.

* * *

Reading a Denver Post article by Scott Willoughby about the recent federal designation of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument down near Taos brought to the fore more of the Streit flyfishing family.

Up in Breckenridge, Jackson Streit of Mountain Anglers is well known on the area's Gold Medal waters, but down in the Land of Enchantment, it's his brother Taylor and nephew Nick. Taylor is a Hall of Fame Guide and author of "Instinctive FlyFishing." Nick owns the Taos Flyfishing Shop and is president of the Enchanted Circle Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Taos easily qualifies as New Mexico's flyfishing epicenter, yet river access points surrounded by towering rock walls are enough to keep many anglers away from areas where wild brown, rainbow and Rio Grande cutthroat trout grow to several pounds and more than 20 inches long.

"That's the whole idea behind the national monument status - to keep it just the way it is," Nick tells Scott. "That's the best part, knowing that nothing will change."

It took decades to get the feds to approve the monument status.

In a similar push, Salida is working to get Brown's Canyon on the Arkansas River recognized as a national monument.

Miles F. Porter IV, nicknamed "Spike," a Coloradan since 1949, is an Army veteran, former Climax miner, graduate of Adams State College and a local since 1982. An award-winning investigative reporter, he and wife Mary E. Staby owned newspapers here for 20 years. E-mail your social info to milesfporteriv@aol.com.